EXCERPT FROM THE PERSONAL DIARY OF “OLD MAN” MARLEY
Entry Dated: January 2, 1992

"I finally mustered the courage to talk to the McAllister boy again. Kevin. That lad has a look in his eye sometimes—like a wolf cub. I remember hearing the screams of those burglars on Christmas Eve. Folks say Kevin rigged the entire house to repel those crooks.

When I asked him how he was holding up, he just shrugged. He said, ‘I was scared at first… but then I wasn’t anymore.’ It chilled me. I tried to tell him that fear is normal, that it’s okay to be frightened by violence. He just gave me a small grin and said, ‘They got what was coming to them.’

I worry about him. He’s a brilliant boy, but it’s like he’s already too comfortable hurting others—justifying it under the banner of self-defense. That kind of thinking, left unchecked, can grow dark indeed."